Short Sharp & Shiny

clear decisions™ regularly releases "short, sharp & shiny" a free distribution containing hints, tips and tools for project management professionals and business improvement advocates. As the name suggests these distributions are short, to the point and easy to read. The aim of these publications is to deliver the quickest win for our readers in the shortest amount of time.

I love Christmas time. I love everything about it, the present giving, the celebrations, the time with family and friends but most of all I love that it gives me the opportunity to sit back, relax and think about what I am thankful for. I am thankful for my wonderful family and friends, my health and my clients. Without you all 2015 wouldn't have been the same.

Change is good. Whether we like it or not, change is coming, as the saying goes "Change is the only constant". Some of us thrive on change and welcome its existence, others dread it and for them it may cause nothing but stress. But we all know that change is necessary for growth and success.

This started me thinking, what if the inspiration for change is drawn from the way we think about it?

It's that time of year again, we spend the lead up to the end of financial year, thinking, talking and planning for next financial year. How to increase sales, get new clients, grow and expand. But we don't talk about what isn't working. We don't talk about the elephant in the room. I was purchasing something online the other day and the process was cumbersome and complicated, so much so that I ended up contacting the company directly. A simple 5 minute purchase turned into a long drawn out transaction. When things like this occur, I'm always left asking myself why?!...
So my quest this year is to give business improvement a voice in your planning. Or as I like to call it owning your elephant.

Everyone has been there. In a room full of peers, watching some god awful speaker give a boring speech, where you would rather count the tiles on the wall than listen to one more word of some "expert" telling us why he or she thinks they are great. Then there are those moments, when some person grabs hold of you and inspires you to be something more. This was the case at the recent Australian Institute of Project Management National Conference, where Li Cunxin, aka Mao's Last Dancer, gave a speech on his journey and the valuable lessons that we can learn from his challenges.

The clear decisionsâ¢ team is more excited than a bunch of kids in a lolly shop about Christmas this year. That's not to say we don't take the end of the year seriously, we know it is a great time to reflect. But we couldn't help it, we had to get silly with the 12 days of Christmas to capture our reflections on 2013 and some tips and ideas to start you thinking during your down time this Christmas break... So in the spirit of Christmas - try humming at the same time!

I'm sure all you Star Wars fanatics are getting ready to play with your light sabers as May fourth approaches. Last year in this newsletter we looked at all the good things we learnt from Star Wars. But before you practice your Chewbacca yell (everybody does it) or try to shove your pet dog into a Yoda costume let's take time to reflect on the man who started it all. Our man, George Lucas. Visionary yes, genius sure, always right? Not even close. Like everybody he has made some mistakes in his business. Let's look at where the visionary lost his way and what can we learn from his mistakes.

Change can take many forms. It can create such an impact on our business and personal lives. In the business world we see change so often. The problem is that most times it hasn't been implemented well.